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Today, many women work in occupational roles that had once been dominated by men (e.g., senior business executives). However, expectations on senior executives to be agentic (e.g., assertive, dominant) may conflict with prescriptive stereotypes about women to be communal (e.g., helpful, warm). According to this double-bind dilemma, female senior executives get criticized for lacking either agency or communion as both dimensions can be perceived as posing a tradeoff. We hypothesize that female senior executives report higher levels of agency and lower levels of communion than women in a more neutral role (e.g., lecturers) due to the perceived requirements of these occupational roles. In Study 1, N = 212 students rated adjectives on their desirability for men vs. women in Chinese society. They rated agentic characteristics as more desirable for men and communal characteristics as more desirable for women. Studies 2 and 3 used this material. Study 2 randomly assigned N = 207 female students to the role of a senior executive vs. lecturer. Study 3 was conducted with N = 202 female role occupants (96 senior executives, 106 lecturers). As expected, female senior executives reported higher levels of agency and lower levels of communion than female lecturers in both studies. Some women may be particularly aware of the above-mentioned double-bind dilemma and may be more worried about the potential backlash than others. They may attempt to reconcile occupational demands (i.e., higher agency, lower communion) with prescriptive gender stereotypes (i.e., lower agency, higher communion). We, therefore, explored whether fear of backlash attenuates the effect of the type of role of women (senior executives vs. lecturers) on agency and communion. Indeed, we found that senior executives who were particularly worried about backlash reported almost as much communion as lecturers did. In contrast, senior executives consistently reported higher levels of agency than lecturers regardless of their fear of backlash. The present study documents prescriptive gender stereotypes in China, how women differ as a function of their occupational roles, and how fear of backlash may motivate female senior executives to reconcile having high levels of both agency and communion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Benedict XVI's letter to the Church in China in 2007 emphasises the importance of papal authority, the relationship between local and universal churches, and the appointment of bishops. This article highlights Pope Benedict's centrist ecclesiology, which had been normative for the Catholic Church since he was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1981 to 2005). In spite of his conservative stance regarding church doctrine, he was open to dialogue with the Chinese authorities. He understood the complexities of the Chinese Church, the hardship and predicament faced by the faithful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a long and rich history of research on self-esteem in children. However, little is known about developmental changes in self-esteem and the association between self-esteem and two basic dimensions of social cognition. This study aims to examine the developmental trajectory of self-esteem and its relationships with two basic dimensions of social cognition: agency and communion among 276 Chinese elementary school students by a two-wave 1-year longitudinal study. Agentic characteristics aid in achieving goals, while communion refers to qualities that aid in social relationships. Both play a part in children’s developing self-esteem to varying degrees. The changes in self-esteem on mean-level and individual-level and the rank-order stability of self-esteem were assessed and the results showed that the development of self-esteem was relatively stable but with some fluctuations during childhood, and no gender difference was found in its development in a Chinese setting. Hierarchical regression was used to test the association of agency and communion with self-esteem and the findings showed that children’s self-esteem was dominated by agency over communion in general; however, when grade was taken into consideration, the predictive effect of agency and communion on children’s self-esteem changed from communion to agency from younger to older children, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the mediating effect of authenticity on the ability of power and communion to predict feelings of satisfaction in work, romantic and friendship roles in a Chinese sample. That authenticity mediates the effect of power on satisfaction in specific roles has been previously demonstrated in studies with Western participants, and this study sought to replicate these findings in an East Asian context. Furthermore, given the importance of communion in maintaining Chinese satisfaction, our second aim was to extend previous studies by testing whether authenticity mediates the effects of communion on Chinese satisfaction. One hundred and fifty Chinese participants completed the surveys addressing work, romantic relationships and friendships. The results reveal that both power and communion are significant predictors of Chinese satisfaction but their impact differed according to relationship type. Power and communion significantly predicted satisfaction in an interactive manner in business roles, but did so in an additive manner in close roles. More importantly, authenticity mediated the effects of both power and communion on Chinese satisfaction. These results show that authenticity is one of the common essences in the prediction of power and communion to Chinese satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pre-Qin cultural tradition of Qi espoused a harmony between heaven and earth, which connected sacrificial rites, physical perception and transformative education. Based on an analysis of the ritual classics and related texts, this study probes the close relationship between Qi, spirit and body found in sacrificial ceremonies that employed various types of aromas to worship gods in the pre-Qin period. In these ceremonies, aromas were said to initiate strong physical experiences and feelings, and this study investigates how personal cultivation, moral conduct and transformative education were involved in the transformation of Qi and blood. It begins by analyzing the significance and effectiveness of aroma in the descriptions of sacrificial rites found in the ritual classics. It then explores what aromas were valued in sacrificial ceremonies as well as the conceptions of spirits prevalent at the time. Looking at views of blood Qi and virtuous Qi (“Mingde Weixin”), this study examines the shift in emphasis in primitive sacrificial ceremonies from blood Qi to virtuous Qi. This shift indicates the important role aroma played in transformative education; it also reveals how aroma served as a metaphor for virtuous conduct and how physical Qi was used to describe the condition of the mind. Moreover, in terms of atmosphere, the ritual actors who participated in sacrificial ceremonies maintained concentration and respect by preparing religious instruments, fasting and worshiping. This study examines how atmosphere informed the ritual actors' sincerity and respect, and suggests that they were based on strong physical experience and emotion. The synaesthesia of emotions causes ritual to harmonize with heaven and earth, the body, the emotions and the nature in a way that not only prevents formal ossification, but which also succeeds in establishing an ideal world of ritual and music characterized by flowing vitality and the synaesthesia of emotions and Qi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generativity refers to activities that help to establish and guide the next generation. This paper explores the nature of generative concern among older people and how it manifests itself in an era of rapid social and technological changes that have produced wide generation gaps. Eight focus groups were conducted with 51 women and 20 men who were recruited from social centres in Hong Kong on the basis of age, socio-economic status, and level of participation in the centres. The discussions were transcribed verbatim and analysed using grounded-theory principles. The elders frequently referred to the superior educational level and technological knowledge of their offspring, as well as the differences in values and lifestyles between the generations, which they thought had made their own knowledge and wisdom obsolete. They had concerns about social and technological changes, however, and they aroused a sense of urgency to protect the younger generation from contemporary evils, while many considered that passing on moral and behavioural codes nowadays was the most important generative role. Although they wanted to help, their efforts were often criticised. In order to maintain harmonious relationships and to avoid conflicts with their offspring, many participants adopted passive generative roles. Attempts to stabilise the generative self by redefining generativity were also observed. The final section of the paper discusses the implications of the findings for the maintenance of the generative self in personal situations of declining resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]